The Crash, Book 1: Survivors
by SmashX5000
Summary: Raimundo, a young Brazilian boy, thought he was going on a plane ride to Hawaii, but it turned into much more. When his plane explodes, he awakens on a mysterious island, and must find the truth to what's happening in America and the explosion's cause...
1. Chapter 1: The Animal Airlines HQ

**Chapter One****  
**_**The Animal Airlines HQ**_

It was mid-day, and the sun shone brightly over the forests of **Brazil**. Surely, this great weather would contribute to the flight I was about to be on. **Flight 176** was set to take off at 3:30pm today, and by twilight, I'd be at the amazing island of **Hawaii**. Sure, I could have rented a boat from Kapp'n, but it was doubtful that I could traverse an ocean in one day. It would take weeks, maybe even months, to travel that far. A flight was the easy way out. Or... so I thought at the time.

"**FLIGHT 176**** IS SET TO TAKE OFF IN ONE HOUR! ONE HOUR, PEOPLE**" The loud, thundering voice emitted through the megaphone Tortimer held proudly in front of his ragged old face. How old was Tortimer, anyway? He looked as if he was 81, but surely he had aged more than that! As the thought raced through my head, I looked through my copy of the January 2008 Nintendo Power. None of the nominees in the 2008 Nintendo Power Awards interested me, except for Super Mario Galaxy. Man, that looked great!

That hour sure did pass quite quickly, much to my pleasure. There was absolutely no way I could wait to get to the island. However, I would learn soon just how long it would take. Some animals were boarding the plane already, and I knew it was time for me to hurry. As I put the magazine back into my bag, I looked at the passengers who were currently boarding. Apollo, Aurora, Mitzi, Quetzal and Rod were walking past. I dashed as fast as I could, sliding into the line. **Flight 176**'s path closed behind me. I had sealed my fate...

The passengers sat down, one after another. My assigned seat was **13-A**. Thank goodness that I would not have to site between animals. There was always some emotionally wrecked animal on my left and their stressed friends on my right. I thought for sure that this would be a great flight... but, I was soon to learn otherwise. The first problem finally arose, much to my discontent. "**PASSENGERS OF ****FLIGHT 176****, WE ARE SORRY TO ANNOUNCE THAT THE FLIGHT WILL BE DELAYED BY TEN MINUTES. SORRY FOR THE INCONVEINIENCE**" Just great!

Beside me now sat Tom Nook and Crazy Redd. They had always hated each other, yet they were selling items to each other. That must be how Redd gets all of that Nook stuff that's twice as expensive. He had ripped me up on that Ranch Tea Table!

"So Nook, how much will it cost me to buy a Triforce from you?"

"10,000Bells." Nook replied. I sure hoped that they wouldn't do this the whole flight. Saved by a bell (or rather a thump), I felt the plane kick off the ground...

The sheer excitement of knowing that I was going hundreds of feet above the ground was astounding. I'd never flown before, and it was times like this when I knew I should fly more often. But, it's about a hundred-thousand bells for tickets, and I didn't have that kind of money. No one in Brazil did. Through the small, round window, I saw the clouds flying by. It was nothing like you'd ever see in a forest.

Behind me, Tom Nook and Crazy Redd were on their trading spree. I heard them selling the usual stuff. Crates, Katanas, Stereos... you name it! But there was one sale in particular that truly caught my attention. In a shout of excitement, Nook proclaimed "I'll sell you Nookington's. One million bells. What do yo say, yes?" I sat there, staring... dumb-founded, I could say. And judging by the look on Redd's face, he felt the same way.

"Your ENTIRE store!? Are you joshing me, Nook? That's CRAAAZY!!" Redd shouted, somehow working his signature "crazy" phrase into the question. I sat there, waiting for the response.

"Yes, yes, I'm planning to open a new store in Hawaii." Little did he know, he would never make it to Hawaii. I heard a bolt of lightning in the distance, and what was surely an explosion. If it was truly an explosion, we'd all be doomed. All that could possibly explode without being instantly noticeable is the engine, and that would cause a crash.

The captain charged into the area. He was an old blue bear, presumably forty. His fur was gruffed and dangled, and he showed little expression on his face. His suit was finely fit, and he looked around. It was **Captain Groucho**, the best pilot in this side of the wild world. He looked angry in his eyes, and the door behind him swung shut. "Passengers of **Flight 176**, I have terrible news. It seems that our engines have been electrocuted. We have reason to believe that the plane will be landing in the ocean. If you parachute out now, you may have a chance at survival." Groucho sighed. "I'll stay with the flight. It is my duty."

"No! You have to escape!" Cheri, a cub on the doomed flight, cried out at the old bear. Before Captain Groucho could respond to the plea for his life, disaster struck. We may never know exactly how, but the plane... split... in half? This was absolutely absurd, but I swear, there were sparks flying everywhere! The plane started to fall, separating the passengers. Groucho was where the split occurred, and he fell to the ocean floor...

It was only a matter of time before we fell to our fiery demise. In a quick surge of fate, I leaped out for my explosive free-fall. Where fate took me now, it was up in the wind. The cool breeze of skydiving out of a burning plane felt great, but I knew that many innocent lives were lost. There was an explosion behind me, and the rear end of the plane was smoking. The animals of the north end managed to escape before the plane hit the water...

Pain coursed through my tired body, and sand worked it's way into my mouth as I slowly came to. The vision in my eyes turned from pure darkness to specks of yellow sand. I pushed myself up and looked around my new surroundings. Water as far as the eye could see to my left, and a nice beach to the right. I could barely stand up, and my mind raced, trying to comprehend what had happened.

'_Alright, so... the last thing I remember, the plane exploded, and I was free-falling from it. But... then, how am I still alive. The impact should've killed me!'_ I sat up, looking at the large holes in my tattered shirt. Man, did it have to be my favorite Jungle Camo that got ruined?

In the very last part of my vision, I saw a green and brown frog running up to me. Though it didn't click into my mind right away, I recognized him. "C-Camofrog?" I asked weakly, lifting myself off the ground. This was the first time I had stood on the island... or wherever I was, I guess is what I meant.

"Oh my gosh... you're still alive, ten-hut?" Camofrog blurted out in shock, checking my arms for any wounds. As soon as he saw the cut across my face, and the bruises that blanketed my arms, he grabbed me by the shirt, lifted me over his shoulder, and started running.

"What are you doing!?"

"You've got some serious injuries, ten-hut. I've gotta get you help fast!" Camofrog leaped over a lag that lay peacefully on the beach, and continued running.

"How!? We're on a dang island!"

"There are survivors, you know ten-hut! They can surely help!" Survivors, eh? So we weren't the only ones who survived the crash, I guess. Thank goodness, this island would be so lonely without other animals. As we continued our little sprint, a small fire started coming into view. That must've been the campfire they set up. This thought was confirmed by the familiar animals crowding around it. Camofrog set me down, and spoke in Animalese to the survivors. Thank goodness I had learned that language. "I found the kid, ten-hut. He really needs medical attention, Ava." Camofrog said sternly to the chicken that stood opposite him. That must've been Ava.

"Camofrog! Would you mind not interrupting while I explain the plan, growl!?" Wolfgang yelled. His dark blue fur was ragged from the crash.

"Sorry, ten-hut."

"Grr..., anyways, the remains of the plane aren't far from here. Parts are already washing onto shore. If and when we find all the parts, we could make a propeller and a boat. Then, we get search for Hawaii, growl! Is that clear!?" Wolfgang shouted out to the animals. All of them seemed to agree with the plan. Minutes later, Ava had dragged me out to the ocean, and rubbed sea water on some of my cuts. Though it stung quite badly, I had to get some help.

"Thank goodness Mr. Nook had some medicine from his store. If he hadn't, someone could've died." Ava announced, opening the small white and blue bag and putting the powder from inside onto my cut, then rinsing it with seawater. I looked out and saw Punchy fishing out by the lake. Fish meant food now, so the more fishermen, the better.  
To top off the job Ava did, she wrapped a shirt from my bags and wrapped it around the lower half of my face. Another shirt was used as a sling for my arm. "That should work for now. We really need to find a way off this island, though." Ava sighed.

"You should go and talk to Leopold. There about to go search for wood to make camps." I nodded, and walked off. In the distance, I saw Cesar running to Wolfgang with a bundle of bananas.  
I walked up to Leopold. "So, can I go with you guys?"

"Sure. We could use more help finding Otis." Sprocket announced. Otis!? I thought I was gonna just find some wood.

"Um... what happened to Otis?"

Leoplold turned to me. "Otis hasn't come back yet. He should have been with Cesar, but he didn't come back. We're worried."

"Alright, let's go." I sighed. We walked on into the massive forest the loomed over the beaches of the island. Trees were everywhere (as you would expect), and the sounds of moving feet coursed through our eardrums. No one else was in site. But, there were scorpions blocking our path. Leopold screamed at the shear site of the creatures, and with good reason. Scorpions were the most fearsome creatures you could come across in Brazil. Surely the kind that lived here would be worse. One crawled right onto Leopold, and the single sting knocked him out cold. In a rush of despair, we ran, but they were too fast. Sprocket took a massive sting, and I saw alone...

I didn't know what to do, and the racing of my heart didn't help at all. In a quick attempt at freedom, I leaped over a small tree and sprinted for my life, trying to avoid looking back. The scorpions were charging towards me, and who knows what would happen if I was caught. Then, it came to me. _'Tarantulas and scorpions can't swim!'_ With that in mind, I leaped into the river, with pain coursing through my bad arm. I looked back as I floated. The backed off, disappointed with the failure.  
Relieved with this escape, I kicked my way across the small river, and struggled myself onto dry land. As I stood, an animal caught my sight... Otis! He looked towards me from up in the trees. I thought that the birds in Brazil couldn't fly, but Otis somehow topped an old pine tree.

"Hey Raimundo! Glad to see that you survived the crash!" Otis called out from the trees. Back in Brazil, Otis was one of my best friends, he was pretty good at sneaking into Nook's after hours, and helped me get my favorite furniture while I saved up for my mortgage. At least he'd survived the scorpions.

"Otis! How'd you get up there!" I waited a few moments for a response, but there was none. "Otis?"

"Rai! Behind you!" But it was to late. I felt a sharp blow from a shovel against the back of my head, the the dirt against my face. I rolled over and caught glimpse of a dark blue squirrel. He had a mark in his fur that resembled lightning.

"Look's like we've got another captive. Punchy, get the bird out of the tree!" The dark squirrel called out.

"Alright, Static." Punchy called back, shooting Otis with a slingshot. Otis fell instantly, and was tied up. I went through the same fate. Static tied my arms with a woolen rope. Pain shot through my arm, and it was brutally obvious now that my arm was broken. Punchy darted off, dragging Otis across the ground at a fierce pace. Static grabbed my broken arm and lifted me, running off into twilight.

Minutes later, we were in a very strange place. The animals that lived here all seemed to be natives, and none of them seemed to be calm. Anger was showing in their eyes, but it was held back by obedience towards the Tribe Leader, who must've been Static. Suddenly, I was grabbed by behind and hurled into a dense cave. Muddy water dripped from the ceiling, and light came from where we entered. The entrance was soon blocked off my a large boulder.

"Great, so now we're going to die in this cave!" Otis cried out, pacing around. Otis... well, he scared really easily, and it showed in the cave, though I could only truly see his beak.

"W-We can esc-c-ape!" I announced, stuttering from the pain in my arm. I felt like I was going to faint, but I had to stay awake. Who knows what could happen if I passed out?

"Gah, it's hopeless! We'll die!" Otis continued to scream, even after my little "reassuring." I walked off, looking for some way out, when I tripped over something.

"Hmm..., what was that?" I asked out loud, looking at the ground. I see a green creature stand up, revealing more white on it's stomach. I realized what it was. "Is that... a... Yoshi!?" I took a closer look, and I HAD tripped on a Yoshi!

"Alright, now we're going to get eaten by a small green dinosaur! Just great!" Otis cried out.

"Yoshis don't eat birds, Otis." I rolled my eyes, and caught glimpse of something that worried me more than the cave... it was a pack of tarantulas! They must've roamed the entire island! I stumbled backwards, trying to move away from the creatures. I was honestly scared for my life now! One was harsh enough, but there must have been over a hundred! "Otis... we have a problem..."

"What now?" Otis sighed, then noticed the tarantulas and screamed. He ran to the entrance, and tried to move the rock, but it wouldn't budge. As the tarantulas drew near, I noticed bullets killing them. before us stood the figure of a bovine...

The dark figure of a bovine stood before us, using his Slingshot like a pro. Every tarantula that scattered across the room would soon be faced with death. The small bullets used n the Slingshot lay on the ground, their job done. The bovine walked up to us, jumping over the half-asleep Yoshi that lay on the cave floor. "Thank goodness that they didn't kill you guys. I'm Stu."

"How long have you been in here?" Otis asked, looking down at the dead tarantulas.

"I wouldn't know. It's been long enough that I've lost track of the years."

"You've been here for YEARS!?" I gasped in shock. The mere thought of someone being trapped in a cave for years, with little food and water was harsh. "Otis, we need to get out of here."

"Alright. You think we can move those boulders at the entrance?" Otis asked.

"If we work together."

"Don't do it, guys." Stu announced, petting the half-awake Yoshi. "This cave's structure... well, there's barely a structure. Move those boulders too much, and the whole place falls in on us... Even though it's gonna anyway."

"WHAT!? This place is coming down!?" Otis cried out.

"Yes. I've been working on a secret exit. I was about to escape, but I heard you guys. We need to pull out a boulder near my exit, and the natives will think we're dead." Stu explained, pointing behind him. It was too dark to see what was over there, but we could find out as we ran there. In an instant, we were storming through the cave. Once we exited, the cave fell into itself. We ran around the outer side of the island. We turned to talk to him, but watched as he collapsed. I knew that we would face the same fate if we stayed, so we continued to run.

Sometime later, we stepped foot into the campsite. Wolfgang quickly came to greet us. "Rai, you made it back! Glad to see Otis... where's Sprocket and Leopold?" Wolfgang's unusually cheery face turned to a questioned look of despair.

"T-th-e scorpions got them. I had to leave them." I explained, looking towards the forests. "We're lucky to be alive, the natives almost got us."

"Scorpions... Natives... you're sure that you didn't hit your head?" Wolfgang asked jokingly, but changed attitude after seeing my stern face. "Those forests are dangerous, we'd best stay away from them. We need another source of food.


	2. Chapter 2: Sharp Sting From a Bee

**Chapter Two  
**_Sharp Sting from a Bee_

A few days had passed since the cave collapsed. Some animals had mysteriously "vanished" in the Forest, and I had an eerie feeling that the natives had killed them. I sat on a log at the beach, lifting the tattered off of my busted arm. It had started to sell, and it was quite bruised. I poured some of the water we had gathered onto my arm and wrapped in another shirt. Most of my injuries had cleared up, but my bad arm would last months.

Goldie sat down next to me, rubbing some water on a cut by her ear. "What happened, Goldie?" I asked, curious about what happened.

"I was at the hole we stored the food in. Well, a native came and struck me with a jagged stick. The blow knocked me out." Goldie said, continuing to rub the cut. I patted her on the back, and handed her one of my old gloves with some tape.

"Here, you can use this to cover the cut."

"Thank you Raimundo." Goldie smiled, taping the glove to her face. "What happened to your arm?"

"I landed on it when we fell out of the plane." I explained, then noticed something... Goldie was dazed! "Goldie, are you okay?" There was no response. "Goldie." and like that, Goldie collapsed onto the sand. A small bee flew away from behind her unconscious body. Was that what caused it? No, that would be ridiculous. I grabbed her arms and tried to lift her up. "Guys! Something weird just happened! Goldie blacked out!"

Some of the other animals came running to us at the sound of "blacked out." Wolfgang and Camofrog were the fastest. "What happened, tenhut?" Camofrog asked, inspecting Goldie.

"I-I'm not entirely sure. We were talking, and she suddenly looked dazed. I asked if she was okay, and she collapsed." I noticed that Wolfgang was checking her pulse.

"Thank goodness, she's still breathing. We need to get her to the doctor right away. You think there was any dangerous bugs nearby?" Wolfgang asked, standing up.

"I saw a bee fly off right after the incident. Maybe that caused it."

"Alright, so we have a new thing to look out for: bees. Just great..."

My mind was racing as we carried Goldie of to see Ava, the nurse of the island. I had never seen someone pass out after being stung by a bee before. A scorpion sting, I could understand, but a bee!? My time to ponder what happened ended quickly as we reached the part of the beach that Ava spent time at. She was sitting there, looking at the unconscious body of Goldie, shocked.

"What happened to her!?" Ava asked, searching Goldie's head for bites or sting marks, but there were none to be found. The arms showed no signs of a poisonous sting either. After chcking one more time, Ava stopped and sighed. "I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do."

"_What_!? How can you not help her, she was stung, tenhut!" Camofrog yelled.

"But there's no mark whatsoever of any form of poisoning, not at all. Without any of those, I can't create an antibiotic." Ava sighed, then walked away. "It's useless to even try."

"Her life may be at risk, and you can't even try anything!? What kind of nurse are you!?"

"A good one who has limitations!"

"This is all _your_ fault, Raimundo! You little punk!!" Wolfgang punched me in the jaw as he shouted this, and I stumbled back from the fierce blow. I collapsed and landed on my broken arm, letting out a yelp of pain. I slowly picked myself up and struck him with a shell off the beach. He barely even flinched from the blow.

"What the heck's your problem, Wolfgang!? She can't help her, so I suddenly need to get beaten?" Angrily, I threw a roundhouse kick at my opponent. Wolfgang stumbled, and I took the chance to strike him with my Golden Shovel. Somehow, he caught the shovel with his paw and flipped it out of m hand. I then felt a harsh blow to my stomach, and I collapsed onto the beach. I crawled off to get up, and pulled out my Axe. I struck at him, and the blow was received by the gold end of the Shovel.

I then blocked several more strikes from Wolfgang's shovel, and noticed something upsetting about my weapon... it was broken. Bits of sharp metal fell off of the Axe, and the stick was worthless in the fight. I then felt a blow to my arm, but Wolfgang hadn't thrown it. Camofrog had attempted to put an end to the fight using shovel himself, but had mis-aimed and struck me. Blackness took over my sight, and I felt a thud...

I awoke several hours later, disoriented. The surroundings around me were different. I was on the metal wing of the plane, and we were moving slowly across the water. As I regained strength, I stood up and looked around. The animals that had survived the crash were paddling off. In the distance was another island...

I surveyed the area, baffled. Since when had the raft been finished, or when was there a nearby island? I crawled over to Otis, not wanting to stand on a moving raft. "Otis... where are we going?" I asked, even though it was obvious that we were heading towards a small island.

"We're detouring around the cave. We didn't want to risk running into those natives. Also, you might not want to go around Wolfgang... he's furious with you. Heck, if it were up to him and not Camofrog, you would be tied to the bottom of the raft to drown." Otis explained. Though I wanted to go over to Wolfgang and knock him out cold (as had been done to me), I had a feeling that he was stronger than me, and I would end up tied to the bottom of the raft.

After about ten minutes had passed, we had reached the small island, yet there was no happiness. The island looked like it had been the place of an explosion, with the water a deep brown, muddy color. It was unlike anything I had ever seen, but I didn't have time to investigate the odd coloring. I heard a splash nearby, followed by an arrow nearly piercing through my already injured arm. I looked out to see the islanders.

"Incoming projectiles from the rear!" Punchy called out, and, in the blink of an eye, Comofrog started hurling coconuts at the natives. The coconuts weren't for weaponry, though, they were a diversion. Surprisingly, the natives chased the coconuts wherever they were thrown, and eventually walked off to their huts. I looked out at the area past the cave, with only one thing surprising enough to catch my eye: a mansion!

As soon as we reached land, we scurried to the only sign of civilization we'd seen in weeks. The door was laing in front of a tree a half of a mile away from the house, and the paint was burned off completely, and the remains of a nearby house were crumbling and crisp black. What on earth had happened here? We walked into the mansion, and saw a man sitting in a ranch couch, looking at the air above him... or at least trying to. "Sir?" asked Goldie, who had finally (apparently) recovered from the bee sting.

"They're... gone..."

"Who's gone?"

"The lives of... millions..."

What did this old man mean!? The lives of millions, lost? There was no room on the island for millions, even with the cave included! "B-But that's impossible! This island's way too small!" The old man's eyes seemed to change my mind, though. A dark feeling shot through my spine, and images of a larger part of the island being destroyed. I stepped away, trying to avoid looking at his eyes. As soon as my foot moved, Wolfgang pushed his way to my spot.

"I hate to admit it, but Raimundo's right! This island could never have housed millions of people!" Wolfgang's voice was dark and bitter, like coffee. After even a few days of no good things, even coffee sounded like a treat. I heard a light chuckle, and instantly looked at the old man. Who was he? What did he see?

"I never said the people where from the island. Honestly, this isn't even an island." He laughed. That last phrase caught me off guard. "This place... is part of the United States... or, shall I say, what remains of it. Welcome to California." I couldn't believe it! California... an island!? How could that possibly happen?

"So... how is this part of California!? There's nothing around for miles!" Otis cried out. It was more than obvious that he wasn't feeling safe yet. Then again, I felt worried too. With what this man had said, there was no way to tell where we were. Was this an island somewhere around Hawaii, South America, and the United States, or part of California? Nothing made sense anymore!

"Are you that clueless? Go on further past this house, and you'll see what happened. You can look into it on your own." The old man said, but as the sentence reached it's conclusion, he was stuttering and gasping. His eyes were slowly hidden off by eyelids, and his breathing stopped.

"...He's... Dead..." Ava announced after a quick check of his pulse. She stood up and left the man on the wooden floor. There was no point in trying to save him now. He told us all that we needed.

"So... what do we do now, tenhut?" Camofrog asked, wiping away what appeared to be a tear. Who would've guessed that he had a soft side. Wolfgang looked around.

"We move on."


End file.
